Business Environment and Company Financial Information

1. Prepare a summary of the company: what do they do?, what industry they operate in?, where are the located?, basic statistical facts about their size, history, culture and leaders, etc.

2. Prepare an assessment of the business environment of the company:
a. Porter Five Forces analysis
b. SWOT analysis
c. Competitive analysis
d. Review company website and press releases
e. Gather industry financial standards for the company's financial information

3. Obtain a set of downloaded current financial statements and public disclosures, that include three years of historical data:
a. Income Statement
b. Balance Sheet
c. Statements of Cash Flows
d. Statement of Shareholder's Equity
e. Auditor's opinion

4. Review the MD&A and all footnotes to the financial statements, and include any pertinent portions.

5. Prepare a discussion on accounting principles used and major accounting guidelines impacting the company.

6. Prepare a summary of the initial financial assessment of the company's profitability (are they profitable?, what are their profit trends?, what are their margins?, comparison to competitors,). Include their credit ratings.

7. Access the capital structure and the market capitalization (how are they financed?, what is their NBV?, what is their market cap?, how does NBV and market cap compare?, is their working capital strong?, etc).

8. Provide calculations of Profit Margins and Return on Assets (ROA).

9. Prepare a common-size income statement, using total assets as the basis, for your company and one of its competitors. Briefly